Valant is a web-based clinical EHR and Practice Management solution built exclusively for behavioral health. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Valant CEO Ram Krishnan to learn more about the company.
Ram Krishnan’s Background
What is Ram Krishnan’s background? Krishnan said:
“I joined Valant in 2020. Previously, I served in various technology roles including GE Healthcare where I graduated through the Informational Management Leadership Program and went on to lead the Global Radiology and Services business units. After nearly 15 years at GE Healthcare, I went on to lead multiple SaaS businesses through critical growth phases.”
Formation Of Valant
How did the idea for Valant come together? Krishnan shared:
“Valant was founded in 2005 by brothers David Lischner, a psychiatrist who was running the Evidence Based Treatment Centers of Seattle, and Ben Lischner, a former software developer at AT&T Wireless. They developed the platform based on their frustration with the shortcomings of EHR software built for primary care and other medical disciplines. Valant is built for the unique workflows, billing requirements, and documentation needs of behavioral health clinicians and their practices.”
Through extensive client research, clinical input, and disruptive technology solutions, Valant is reinventing the possibilities of how EHR systems serve the mental health community and its patients. Valant was founded to provide behavioral health providers and the practices they serve software to streamline administration and empower what’s most important: improving patient outcomes.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Krishnan reflected:
“There have been so many great memories created during my time so far at Valant, it’s hard to pick out any one particular event. But the first major milestone I was a part of was our transition from an older technology platform to a modern platform in 2021. It was a big moment, where we ‘turned the switch’ and moved 99% of our customers over to the new product over a weekend. That first week was when version 2.0 of our company began and it was the culmination of a lot of hard work, sweat, and challenges that had to be overcome. It was one of those moments where you reach the top of a seemingly unscalable mountain and have a minute to be in awe of what your team accomplished.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Krishnan explained:
“Valant is a cloud-based integrated EHR and practice management software that supports the administrative and clinical operations of behavioral healthcare clinicians and their practices. The software offers features that enhance clinical and administrative productivity and quality, including individual and group therapy documentation, appointment scheduling, treatment planning, built-in clinical assessments with autoscoring, medication management, a patient portal mobile app, billing, and advanced reporting. Valant collects and organizes data from patients and providers, documents them using guided protocols, and stores them securely. Actionable insights and reports are also generated based on the data collected.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Krishnan and the team face in building the company? Krishnan acknowledged:
“Today, behavioral health is experiencing a major shortage of clinicians. One step that practices are taking, and companies like Valant are supporting, is increasing telehealth care options. This is critical in behavioral health as it is chronic in nature and patients are seeing their clinicians on a frequent basis, often weekly or monthly. Digital innovation is being driven in many ways by the issue with supply and demand.”
Evolution Of Valant’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Krishnan noted:
“The platform has evolved to meet the growing needs of behavioral healthcare practices. Last year, Valant launched MYIO, the first all-in-one behavioral health-specific patient engagement mobile app. MYIO, which is short for My Improved Outcomes, offers a secure solution intended to improve both patient and practice outcomes. With MYIO, patients can join telehealth sessions, sign intake forms, complete assessments, securely message their behavioral health provider, view and request appointments, update payment information, and make online payments. This alleviates the burden often placed on administrative staff and allows them to handle patient questions and requests that do not require their provider’s attention.”
“Valant’s Prospective Patient Management tool helps match new patients with the optimal behavioral health provider. The unique algorithm evaluates providers’ alignment with a new patient based on treatment preferences, expertise, and insurance. It is integrated with Valant’s EHR platform, offering practices an easier way to receive and manage new patient inquiries and quickly match them with the right clinician. This can improve a practice’s intake efficiency, patient experience, and clinician satisfaction.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Krishnan cited:
“Valant has grown over the last several years and now serves more than 22,000 behavioral health professionals across all 50 states. In December 2023, the company received an investment from Resurgens Technology Partners. The company intends to use the funds to expand how it serves its customers and accelerate new client acquisition.”
Other significant milestones include:
-Dramatic improvements to our integrated telehealth offering including adding a patient paywall at appointment check-in and removing the dependency on clinicians to have to ask for payment before/after the session.
-Unveiled group therapy feature, which streamlines appointment setting, documentation, and billing functionality for practices offering group therapy.
-Automated patient reminders and the ability to send broadcast messages.
-Launched MYIO – The only app enabled behavioral health portal fully integrated with an EHR.
-Introduced Prospective Patient Management – a tool to help match new patients with the optimal behavioral health provider
-Launched completely revamped treatment planning tool, which meets the evolving needs of payers through treatment plan types with customizable fields and reminder-based review cycles. Practices can now create a consistent treatment experience with research-backed content libraries of 1000+ preset problems, goals, objectives, and interventions.”
Funding
When asking Krishnan about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“In December 2023, Valant was acquired by and received a growth equity investment from Resurgens Technology Partners.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Krishnan assessed it as $2.1 billion.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Krishnan affirmed:
“The biggest differentiator is that Valant was created specifically for behavioral health practices. Built for the unique workflows, billing requirements, and documentation needs of behavioral health clinicians and their practices, Valant offers an EHR specifically focused on behavioral health. As we make platform updates or roll out new features we always have the needs of behavioral health clinicians at the forefront of our decisions.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Krishnan concluded:
“Valant will continue to enhance its products and services to meet the needs of large behavioral healthcare practices. We envision to be the one-stop-shop for behavioral health practices, delivering solutions for their ever-changing needs. Our goal is to provide technology and services that connect behavioral health patients and providers, when and how they need care, with tools that improve outcomes for all and make our world a mentally healthier place.”
